Part B The law of obligations 5: Content of contracts 81
Curtis v Chemical Cleaning Co 1951
The facts: The claimant took her wedding dress to be cleaned. She was asked to sign a receipt on which
there were conditions that restricted the cleaner's liability and in particular placed on the claimant the risk
of damage to beads and sequins on the dress. The document in fact contained a clause 'that the company
is not liable for any damage however caused'. The dress was badly stained in the course of cleaning.
Decision: The cleaners could not rely on their disclaimer since they had misled the claimant. She was
entitled to assume that she was running the risk of damage to beads and sequins only.
4.1.3 Unsigned contracts and notices
Each party must be aware of the contract's terms before or at the time of entering into the agreement if
they are to be binding.
Olley v Marlborough Court 1949
The facts: A husband and wife arrived at a hotel and paid for a room in advance. On reaching their
bedroom they saw a notice on the wall by which the hotel disclaimed liability for loss of valuables unless
handed to the management for safe keeping. The wife locked the room and handed the key in at the
reception desk. A thief obtained the key and stole the wife's furs from the bedroom.
Decision: The hotel could not rely on the notice disclaiming liability since the contract had been made
previously and the disclaimer was too late.
Complications can arise when it is difficult to determine at exactly what point in time the contract is
formed so as to determine whether or not a term is validly included.
Thornton v Shoe Lane Parking Ltd 1971
The facts: The claimant wished to park his car in the defendant's automatic car park. He had seen a sign
saying 'All cars parked at owner's risk' outside the car park and when he received his ticket he saw that it
contained words which he did not read. In fact these made the contract subject to conditions displayed
obscurely on the premises. These not only disclaimed liability for damage but also excluded liability for
injury. When he returned to collect his car there was an accident in which he was badly injured.
Decision: The reference on the ticket to conditions was received too late for the conditions to be included
as contractual terms. At any rate, it was unreasonable for a term disclaiming liability for personal injury to
be presented so obscurely. Note that since the Unfair Contracts Terms Act 1977 the personal injury clause
would be unenforceable anyway.
An exception to the rule that there should be prior notice of the terms is where the parties have had
consistent dealings with each other in the past, and the documents used then contained similar terms.
J Spurling Ltd v Bradshaw 1956
The facts: Having dealt with a company of warehousemen for many years, the defendant gave it eight
barrels of orange juice for storage. A document he received a few days later acknowledged receipt and
contained a clause excluding liability for damage caused by negligence. When he collected the barrels they
were empty and he refused to pay.
Decision: It was a valid clause as it had also been present in the course of previous dealings, even though
he had never read it.
If the parties have had previous dealings (but not on a consistent basis), then the person to be bound by
the term must be sufficiently aware of it at the time of making the latest contract.